Bio:

Sailing ships can’t navigate the Maze easily, so the channels themselves are patrolled by a fleet of small, maneuverable ironclads. The fleet is led by Grand Admiral Rodrigo Cobo, a strutting peacock of a man well-connected to the Mexican government. Cobo patrols the the southern parts of the Maze, just waiting for some fundamentheavy ship to appear on the horizon. Those traveling the South channel are advised to keep an eye out, especially around the Sunken City (that’s San Diego for you greenhorns; the Quake sent the whole city to the bottom). Cobo has an inflated sense of his importance and tactical skills, but he’s not quite the fool his flamboyant uniform marks him out to be. His captains are careful fighters who choose their engagements well, rarely risking their ships ormen. Their careful, unimaginative approach reaps
rewards; Cobo’s pirate fleet probably takes in more fundament than any other.

So, how does any fundament get shipped out at all, what with Cobo, Captain Blood, Locke’s Raiders, the Leviathans, and Kang’s pirates all competing to capture ships? Simple. Cobo and Blood are willing to leave the ships of particular owners be for a hefty annual fee. It’s nothing but a waterborne protection racket.

The Mexicans are in bed with the Rockies’ cartel, so Cobo and Blood concentrate their attacks on Union, Confederate, and independent vessels. This arrangement grants the Rockies a competitive advantage. They still have to fear Kang, the Leviathans, and various unaligned pirates, though.

The fact that the richest ore dealers of the Maze are basically paying taxes to support the Mexican Navy should alarm our patrons in Washington. They’ll never recapture the territory with the Mexican Navy lording it over them. Is there a way to convince the Rockies to underwrite a beefed-up Union naval presence and switch from the Mexicans? Maybe they’d be more amenable to a new, independent anti-pirate fleet—though I don’t know who might run such an enterprise.